The present invention relates to an apparatus for supporting a pinion shaft of a differential for a motor vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,608 discloses a final drive unit in a motor vehicle drive line connecting a propeller or drive shaft with vehicle driving wheels through a differential drive. The final drive unit includes a drive pinion which is in constant mesh with a ring gear of a differential. The pinion shaft of the drive pinion is rotatably mounted in a carrier housing by means of front and rear pinion bearings. Between the inner bearing races of the front and rear pinion bearings, a cylindrical sleeve or collapsible spacer is interposed surrounding the pinion shaft for supplying the two opposite pinion bearings with preload. The collapsible spacer is made in the form of a thin walled metal tubular spacer which is disposable in use in a compressed state between a pair of spaced pinion shaft bearings in a final drive unit to preload the pinion bearings. The tubular spacer is generally cylindrical and has a circumferential bulged portion to facilitate longitudinal compression of the tubular spacer, and has a cylindrical portion having at least one elongated opening therethrough. The elongated opening is oriented with its major dimension extending in the longitudinal dimension of the tubular spacer and facilitates torsional deformation of the cylindrical portion having at least one elongated opening therethrough.
In such a support of the pinion shaft, very narrow manufacturing tolerances must be maintained to ensure an even preload to the pinion bearings across the entire operating range and to attain an adequate running smoothness of the differential during operation of the motor vehicle on the traction side and also on the overrun side.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to address these problems and to obviate other prior art shortcomings.